[balenoed_]

Originally Posted by redcruiser

Any update regarding the traffic movement ?
Is there any effect of the bandh?

Yes, it is a complete shutdown. No Shops, except a very few, no buses, auto, taxi service, no malls, no theaters. No traffic at all, except the private vehicles. Good time to explore the hidden parts of the city where you can normally never reach due to traffic.

I wish the the authorities could have taken the advantage of this day to fix the pot holes, drainage systems or anything that they normally cannot do effectively due to the crowd and vehicles.

[sachinpk]

Originally Posted by redcruiser

Any update regarding the traffic movement ?
Is there any effect of the bandh?

The 'bandh' seems to have got lukewarm response in the suburbs. There was a shut down for around 1-2 hours during the morning hours (0800-1000Hrs), after which things have gone back to normalcy. The central business district (Freedom Park etc.) may seem more traffic jams, as the protest marches etc. are more in that area. Now at 1400Hrs, even that seems to be slowly coming to an end. When I checked at around 1100Hrs, traffic was pretty normal in Hebbal etc. Private vehicles are moving, and no untoward incidents at all.

Coming from the "bandh is our state festival" mode Kerala, I find the whole thing to be much more peaceful in Bangalore. There are token protests, some tyre burning and some marches during the start of the day. But by around 1200Hrs, the life gets back to normal. The whole day does not go wasted. The actual trouble maker in Bangalore are not these, but heavy rain fall .

Originally Posted by srishiva

I feel sometimes that all development of land should be done only by the govt. It will help plan for roads, public spaces etc. If you look at older areas one can see roads that are better than the areas where private development is allowed.

Agree with you. Infact the Karnataka Housing Board Layouts are much more planned than the layouts formed by the private parties. They are really spacious, have well defined built up areas and green areas. Infact many of them remind me of the "town ships" which are developed by the old public sector units like BHEL, BEML, BEL etc. Self-dependent and compact were those "town ships", and people also seems to have a better social life. But now I really don't trust the government also doing a good job in forming such layouts. Corruption and sheer greed have totally taken over Bangalore. The current mode in Bangalore seems to be what we call "slaugther" in rubber tree plantations. That is do every thing to get the maximum money, before the whole plantation dies (and have to be restarted from scratch).

[ankan.m.blr]

Is the strike over? I am planning to take my family for dinner to Rasta Cafe, Ramanagar on Mysore Road. Is it safe to go on that route today ?

[petrol_power]

Originally Posted by sandsun7

You could have somehow got onto NICE road from Ecity then uptill Nayandahalli ORR (link road exit) on NICE, - Rajkumar samadhi-Gorguntepalaya- HMT-BEL circle-ORR-Hebbal-Manyata TP. Would have been much faster than cutting across the city today.

Thank you for the details. Is this the route you are referring to? Is there any other route which I can look into?
The distance is more than 50% extra, but I guess if traffic is less, then its worth the distance.

[petrol_power]

Originally Posted by ankan.m.blr

Is the strike over? I am planning to take my family for dinner to Rasta Cafe, Ramanagar on Mysore Road. Is it safe to go on that route today ?

I guess the strike is over, I saw petrol pumps open in Electronic city area, which were closed in the morning. May be the rains diluted the strike.

[Shanenanigans]

Today was a beautiful day to drive in Bangalore. About 45 minutes from Sahakar Nagar to Jaynagar, just cruising, and an hour and fifteen minutes back owing to a detour through Nagarbhavi.

But we saw no buses whatsoever. Which was pretty odd. Right now, the rain is playing spoilsport for most.

[KK_HakunaMatata]

Originally Posted by Shanenanigans

Today was a beautiful day to drive in Bangalore. About 45 minutes from Sahakar Nagar to Jaynagar, just cruising, and an hour and fifteen minutes back owing to a detour through Nagarbhavi.

But we saw no buses whatsoever. Which was pretty odd. Right now, the rain is playing spoilsport for most.

Today was Bangalore Bundh, so no buses.

[Shanenanigans]

Originally Posted by KK_HakunaMatata

Today was Bangalore Bundh, so no buses.

We knew it was a bandh. When I said no buses, I meant all kinds. Didn't see a single private bus either.

[balenoed_]

A rare picture of a greener Bengaluru-

[msdivy]

Originally Posted by ankan.m.blr

Is the strike over? I am planning to take my family for dinner to Rasta Cafe, Ramanagar on Mysore Road. Is it safe to go on that route today ?

Usually, the strike is till 6PM. After that everything normal, shops are open, BMTC buses ply.

Originally Posted by petrol_power

May be the rains diluted the strike.

Rains actually aid bandhs. The goal on bundh is to make everyone stay indoors and rains help in that happen

Originally Posted by Shanenanigans

But we saw no buses whatsoever. Which was pretty odd. Right now, the rain is playing spoilsport for most.

Metro & BMTC were off.

Originally Posted by balenoed_

Good time to explore the hidden parts of the city where you can normally never reach due to traffic.

Yes, it is great time explore on foot. With no traffic is is best time for pedestrians.

[sachinpk]

Originally Posted by msdivy

Rains actually aid bandhs. The goal on bundh is to make everyone stay indoors and rains help in that happen

Today the only entity which can really bring Bangalore to a stand still, are these rains. Even politicians don't have so much power.

[sandsun7]

Originally Posted by petrol_power

Thank you for the details. Is this the route you are referring to? Is there any other route which I can look into?
The distance is more than 50% extra, but I guess if traffic is less, then its worth the distance.

This is the route I was referring to.
https://goo.gl/H4aquM

Time taken from Kanakapura road-NICE junction to my home 4 km north of Hebbal on airport road is around 75-80 minutes on most days.
Yes this option would be much longer for you but I guess on days like yesterday, this would have been the faster option than going through city. The 40 odd kms from NICE Hosur road entrance to Rajkumar samadhi on ORR would be fast moving. Once the ROB near Jalahalli is complete, this route would be even more faster.

[dark.knight]

Originally Posted by sachinpk

Coming from the "bandh is our state festival" mode Kerala, I find the whole thing to be much more peaceful in Bangalore. There are token protests, some tyre burning and some marches during the start of the day. But by around 1200Hrs, the life gets back to normal. The whole day does not go wasted. The actual trouble maker in Bangalore are not these, but heavy rain fall

Give it time, Bangalore will get there. Going by this week I'd almost called it Bandh-galore.. 3 days bus bandh, yesterday flood enforced bandh then today water bandh and tomorrow is holiday bandh. Most unproductive week ever and for a city like Bangalore with its hundreds of international companies and perhaps the largest production base in India, this is nothing short of a disaster.

Only one thing needs to happen for improvement - a twin city has to be made to house half the population thus reducing the number of people in Bangalore and automatically reducing traffic movement, reducing water demand, and also ensuring more transparency and order in the governance since people cannot make quick bucks by pawning off land and resources wantonly. TOO many people makes it easier for the authorities to do mischief in the background whilst the commoners struggle by bumping elbows and arguing amongst themselves.

[hemanth.anand]

The video from my dashcam is attached below captured last friday.
This was at Veerasandra signal on Hosur road when it took 2.5hrs for me to cover a distance of 5kms

http://youtu.be/z2_Do9kzzc8

There is a big apartment Pramukh Aqua constructed here(I'm sure this land was once the lake itself) which has made this lake to the small one that it is now.
I wonder how strong such apartments will be in the long term.
It is such senseless development that has led to such a problem

[srishiva]

Will be fun if rains continue and we see lakes overflowing. The lakes have not been filling up for a long time. With storm drains connecting lakes being reduced in width and almost non-existent in some cases, nature needs to show us extent of illegal construction.

Please rain gods, pour down and keep doing it regularly Sorry for saying this but we need to shaken up by nature, people have adjusted.